Focusing Your Information Need: Four Lessons

by Sophia Guevara

As a librarian, some of the clients I deal with come to me because they know what they want but just can't find it. Then there are those who never truly understood their information need in the first place. A while back, I was forwarded a question from someone interested in making their company an employer of choice when it came to diversity/inclusion. They wanted to be aware of other engineering companies that were already leaders in this area.

While the question seemed straightforward, it was apparent that the information need as stated was not focused. When it comes to research, most people focus on what they want but never give a thought to what they don't want. As a result, they make their information experience much more difficult than it has to be. Here are four lessons that can help focus your own research.

Lesson 1: Make sure to limit the field of possibilities
Take a look at the question. The second part requests research on other engineering companies. Well, there are several branches of engineering, many specializations, and lots of companies that focus on multiple areas. To get anywhere with this question, you first have to limit the field in which the search will be conducted.

Lesson 2: Comparing apples to apples
Would it have been fair to compare a $100 million engineering company to one that makes $900,000 or $200 million? How about comparing a company with 100 employees with one that has 1,000?  How about location: national versus international? In this example, the requester would have benefited from having a good idea of who their ideal peers were.   

Lesson 3: Define your terms
The requester wanted information on other companies considered leaders in diversity and inclusion. In fact, they wanted to be an “employer of choice”. But what does “employer of choice,” “diversity,” and “inclusion” mean to them?  Quite frankly, these terms can mean a lot of things to different people. In fact, just think about all the ways diversity can apply: GLBT, multiculturalism, religious/nonreligious, gender, generational, disability, and more.

Thoroughly defining your terms for any information need will always contribute to a more successful search strategy.   

Lesson 4: Identify the yardstick
What yardstick should be used? In other words, did this person want their company included on Diversity Inc.'s Top 50 Employers list or an industry-specific list?  Either way, what list would be considered most authoritative? Anybody can make a list of “leader” companies and post it on the Internet.

In conclusion, you'll be surprised by how successful your research experience can be if you take a few minutes to thoroughly think it out and focus your question. Librarians are pros at this and your foundation's librarian will be more than happy to help you learn how to do it.

Sophia Guevara is a regular contributor to the Consortium of Foundation Libraries blog.